Raymond Kopa facts for kids
Kopa in 1963
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
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| Full name | Raymond Kopaszewski | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 13 October 1931 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nœux-les-Mines, France | ||||||||||||
| Date of death | 3 March 2017 (aged 85) | ||||||||||||
| Place of death | Angers, France | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.68 m | ||||||||||||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||
| 1941–1949 | Nœux-les-Mines | ||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||
| 1949–1951 | Angers | 60 | (15) | ||||||||||
| 1951–1956 | Reims | 158 | (48) | ||||||||||
| 1956–1959 | Real Madrid | 79 | (24) | ||||||||||
| 1959–1967 | Reims | 244 | (36) | ||||||||||
| Total | 541 | (123) | |||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||
| 1952–1962 | France | 45 | (18) | ||||||||||
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Honours
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Raymond Kopa (born Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a famous French footballer. He was a very important player for the French national team in the 1950s.
At the club level, he played for the amazing Real Madrid team. With them, he won the European Cup three times. This is one of the biggest club football prizes in Europe!
Many people think Kopa was one of the best players of his time. He was an attacking midfielder. This means he played in the middle of the field and helped score goals. He was known for being fast and quick. He was also great at dribbling (running with the ball) and setting up plays for his teammates. He scored many goals too!
In 1958, Kopa won the Ballon d'Or. This is a very special award given to the best football player in the world. In 1970, he was the first footballer to receive the Légion d'honneur. This is a very high award from France. In 2004, the legendary player Pelé named Kopa as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Raymond Kopa was born into a family from Poland. His grandparents were from Kraków and moved to Germany. His parents were born there and then moved to France after World War I. When he was in school, his last name, Kopaszewski, was made shorter to Kopa.
When he was 14, Kopa started working in the coal mines in Nœux-les-Mines. His grandfather, father, and brother had all worked there too. Sadly, Kopa lost a finger in a mining accident during this time.
Later, Kopa married Christiane. She was the sister of one of his teammates at Angers. After he stopped playing football, he started his own sportswear company. He eventually lived in Corsica. Raymond Kopa passed away in Angers on 3 March 2017. He was 85 years old.
Football Career Highlights
Raymond Kopa started his professional football career at age 17. This was after he came in second in a big French youth football competition in 1949. He began playing for Angers in Ligue 2, which is France's second football division.
Two years later, he moved to Reims. With Reims, he won the French championship (the top league) in 1953 and 1955. He also won the 1953 Latin Cup with Reims. They beat Milan 3–0 in the final. Kopa also helped Reims reach the 1956 European Cup Final. However, they lost that game to Alfredo Di Stéfano's Real Madrid team.
Kopa first caught the eye of Spanish fans in March 1955. He played for France against Spain in a match in Madrid. After that game, a Spanish sports newspaper called Marca gave him the nickname "Little Napoleon."
He then moved to Real Madrid for the 1956–57 season. Soon after, another great player, Ferenc Puskás, joined him there. Kopa helped Real Madrid win the European Cup three times in a row! He also helped them win the Spanish league title in 1957 and 1958. Kopa was the first French player to win the European Cup. This happened when Madrid beat Fiorentina 2–0 in the 1957 final. He won it again in 1958 and 1959. The 1959 final was against his old team, Reims, where Just Fontaine was playing.
In the 1959–60 season, Kopa went back to France. He finished his career with Reims, winning more French championships in 1960 and 1962. In total, he scored 75 goals in 346 matches in France's top league. He won the Ballon d'Or award in 1958.
For the French national team, Kopa scored 18 goals in 45 matches. He played for France between 1952 and 1962. He was a star player in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. He scored three goals and helped France reach the semi-finals. They lost to a very strong Brazil team. France finished third in the tournament.
In March 2004, Pelé chose Kopa as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers. In 2018, the France Football magazine created the Kopa Trophy. This award is given to the best young football player each year. It was named in Raymond Kopa's honor. The first player to win it was fellow Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.
Major Achievements
Raymond Kopa won many important titles and awards during his career.
Club Honours
Reims
- French First Division: 1952–53, 1954–55, 1959–60, 1961–62
- Latin Cup: 1953
- French Second Division: 1965–66
Real Madrid
- Spanish League: 1956–57, 1957–58
- European Cup: 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59
- Latin Cup: 1957
International Honours
France
- FIFA World Cup third place: 1958
Individual Awards
- Ballon d'Or: 1958 (he was also runner-up in 1959 and third place in 1956 and 1957)
- FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1958
- Etoile d'Or: 1960
- French Player of the Year: 1960
- FIFA XI: 1963
- World Soccer World XI: 1963
- World Soccer: One of The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time
- Golden Foot: 2006 (as a football legend)
- UEFA President's Award: 2010
- FIFA 100 (named by Pelé)
- 3rd French Player of the Century
Special Orders
Images for kids
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Kopa in 1963
See also
In Spanish: Raymond Kopa para niños
